Together with climate change, both the geopolitical events in Ukraine and social disruptions in supply chains from the COVID-19 pandemic could produce global food shortages or even mass starvation events. Promising new interventions include vaccines to prevent infectious causes of malnutrition or infections disproportionately causing death among the malnourished.
Even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, widespread hunger and malnutrition were important global health threats. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in addition to overweight and obesity, the two major forms of malnutrition include undernutrition, related primarily to proteinâenergy malnutrition, and micronutrient-related malnutrition, especially from iron, vitamin A and iodine deficienciesi. However, in most of the worldâs low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), reduced nutritional intake does not occur in isolation. Chronic infections including diarrheal illness and parasitic infections accelerate both undernutrition and micronutrient-related malnutrition [1.]. For children, the various forms of undernutrition include low weight-for-age referred to as underweight, which can progress to a more severe wasting form. Stunting or low height-for-age can result from chronic undernutrition or frequent recurrences of undernutrition and infection, with the consequence of impairing both cognitive and physical development. Micronutrient deficiency, especially iron but also zinc and others, can also exacerbate the cognitive and physical impairments of stunting…
